Ballotpedia cultivates thriving citizenship through the free and open sharing of information.

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Ballotpedia is an online encyclopedia about American politics and elections. Our goal is to connect people to politics by providing accurate and objective information about politics at the local, state, and federal level.

Ballotpedia is published on a wiki platform, meaning any registered user is welcome to [[Help:How to edit a page|add knowledge]] and improve our content. Every submission to Ballotpedia is fact-checked and curated by our [[Template:Ballotpedia|professional editing staff]]. All Ballotpedia content must be neutral, accurate, and verifiable. Ballotpedia currently has '''{{NUMBEROFPAGES}}''' articles and '''{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}''' registered users.

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Ballotpedia's staff and volunteers particularly focus on the so-called "down-ballot" candidates and ballot measures that typically receive less attention.

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==Sponsorship==

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Ballotpedia is sponsored by the [[Lucy Burns Institute]], a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. The Lucy Burns Institute is funded entirely by private contributions, and does not receive government funding. Ballotpedia's sister site is [[Judgepedia]], an online encyclopedia of American courts and judges.

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Ballotpedia is a wiki, which means anyone can improve it. By [[Help:How to edit a page|adding your knowledge]] and fixing mistakes, the quality and depth of Ballotpedia's information improves over time.

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==Who we are==

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Ballotpedia has an editorial staff of 34 writers and researchers. Although we have an office in Madison, Wisconsin, the majority of our staff work from home offices across the United States. [[Ballotpedia:Bailey Ludlam|Bailey Ludlam]] serves as the editor of Ballotpedia. A full list of Ballotpedia's employees is available [[Template:Ballotpedia|here]].

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===Why we do it===

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==What we cover==

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We believe in the power of information to transform lives and politics, and we're committed to making the most knowledge available to the greatest number of people. In addition to Ballotpedia, the [[Lucy Burns Institute]] hosts [[Judgepedia]] to collect information on our judiciary. The more informed we are as voters, the better our government becomes.

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Ballotpedia's content projects include:

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*[[Portal:Elections|Elections]]

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*[[Portal:Congress|U.S. Congress]]

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*[[Portal:State Executive Officials|State executive officials]]

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*[[Portal:State Legislatures|State legislatures]]

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*[[Portal:Ballot Measures|Ballot measures]]

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*[[Portal:School Boards and School Board Elections|School boards]]

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*[[Ballot access for major and minor party candidates|Candidate ballot access]]

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*[[Portal:Federal Affairs|Federal affairs]]

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*[[Portal:Redistricting|Redistricting]]

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*[[Portal:Recall|Recall elections]]

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*[[Ballotpedia:WikiProject Law|Laws governing direct democracy]]

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*[[Ballotpedia:WikiProject State Constitutions|State constitutions]]

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*[[Ballotpedia:WikiProject Influencers|People and organizations that influence the political process]]

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*[[Ballotpedia:WikiProject History|History of initiative and referendum]]

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*[[Portal:Policypedia|Public policy]]

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Ballotpedia isn't a part of any political party and we don't support candidates. We're simply a community of users dedicated to fairness and openness in politics, on both sides of the aisle. Our users welcome responsible, knowledge-building contributions from anyone who wants to participate.

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==History and impact==

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Since Ballotpedia's founding in 2007, we’ve received over 350 million page views. Our work has been referenced in over 5,000 media outlets, including the ''New York Times'', ''Wall Street Journal'', ''Washington Post'', and ''Politico.''

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===How it works===

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==Getting started==

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Ballotpedia was originally formed by the [[Citizens in Charge Foundation]] on May 30, 2007. In March of 2008, the [[Sam Adams Alliance]] became Ballotpedia's sponsor, continuing their mission of using online media to promote access to government.

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Interested in contributing to Ballotpedia? Click through the '''[[Ballotpedia:A Quick Overview|Ballotpedia Tutorial]]''' to learn how!

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===Sponsorship===

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==Video overview==

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Ballotpedia cultivates thriving citizenship through the free and open sharing of information. The video below explains Ballotpedia's mission.

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On July 1, 2009, the [[Lucy Burns Institute]] (LBI) became Ballotpedia's official sponsor. LBI is a nonprofit [[501c3]] organization that helps keep things running with a small editorial staff and enough server power to meet the demands of our traffic. Ballotpedia has '''{{NUMBEROFPAGES}}''' articles and '''{{NUMBEROFUSERS}}''' registered users.

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<htmlet>givinglibrary</htmlet>

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Ballotpedia relies on the financial generosity of our donors to continue our mission of providing free and open political information. Learn more about how you can [[Support Ballotpedia]]. Thank you for your support!

Revision as of 12:28, 14 April 2014

What we are

Ballotpedia is an online encyclopedia about American politics and elections. Our goal is to connect people to politics by providing accurate and objective information about politics at the local, state, and federal level.

How we operate

Ballotpedia is published on a wiki platform, meaning any registered user is welcome to add knowledge and improve our content. Every submission to Ballotpedia is fact-checked and curated by our professional editing staff. All Ballotpedia content must be neutral, accurate, and verifiable. Ballotpedia currently has 581,994 articles and 10,678 registered users.

Sponsorship

Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Burns Institute, a nonpartisan and nonprofit organization headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. The Lucy Burns Institute is funded entirely by private contributions, and does not receive government funding. Ballotpedia's sister site is Judgepedia, an online encyclopedia of American courts and judges.

Who we are

Ballotpedia has an editorial staff of 34 writers and researchers. Although we have an office in Madison, Wisconsin, the majority of our staff work from home offices across the United States. Bailey Ludlam serves as the editor of Ballotpedia. A full list of Ballotpedia's employees is available here.

History and impact

Since Ballotpedia's founding in 2007, we’ve received over 350 million page views. Our work has been referenced in over 5,000 media outlets, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Politico.